Improvement in sewing-machine guides



J. T. ,CAPEWELL.

. Sewing Machine Guide. No; 56.527. Patented July '24. 1866.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J. T. CAPEWELL, OF WOODBURY, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINE GUIDES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 56,527, wted July 24, 1866.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J. T. CAPEWELL, of Woodbury, in the county of Litchfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and Improved Guide and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

The present invention relates to a new and useful guide or device for folding or lapping the edges of straps over and upon each other, especially intended for and adapted to the manufacture of harness-reins, although it can be applied to other and various purposes, and is to be used in connection with a sewing-ma chine, the edges of the leather or other material of which the strap is composed being, as it is drawn through the said guide, folded or lapped over and upon each other, and delivered therefrom to the needle or needles of the sewing-machine in connection with which it is used in the proper shape for being stitched or sewed, and thus secured together thereby, as will be obvious from the following detail description of my improved guide, reference being had to the accompanying plate of drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan or top view of the same, and Fig. 2 a transverse vertical section taken in the plane of the line 00 as, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

A in the'drawings represents the bed-plate or frame, to which my improved guide B is secured for convenience in using and handling it, this frame being suitably constructed for being fastened to a sewing-machine in proper position for delivering the strap folded in it to the action of the needle or needles of the same.

The guide B, in the present instance, is made in two parts or sections, C and D, one of which, C, is formed by bending a wire or rod, E, around in an elongated circular or oval shape, with one end a little to one side of the other, each end being bent into a hook shape, but with their hook ends extending in opposite directions. The other part, D, of the guide is made of a tapering or conical tubular shape from. end to end, and in transverse section of an elongated circular or oval shape, with the upper edges, E, of the tube overlapping each oth erthat is, one under the other with a space, F, between the two, and the edge of the lower or under one bent over so as to form a continuous hook-shaped edge, Gr, along its entire length.

Into and through the ring portion C of the guide one end of the strap (first having been suitably folded therefor) is placed with one edge in the book of the upper end of the said ring and the other in the hook of the lower end,when, partially drawing the strap through such a ring, its advance end is then inserted in the larger end I of the tubular portion D of the guide, with its edges in the respective space F and hook G of the same, corresponding in position to the hook ends of the ring 0, through which tube the end of the strap is then forced, issuing from its smaller end J, where, by means of a spring pressure-roller, H, hung to the said tubular casing D, one edge or portion of the same is held firmly down and upon the main portion of the strap.

By the conical or tapering shape of the tubular casin g D the edges of the strap, as it passes through it, are gradually made to lap or fold over each other, and before issuing from its smaller end are laid down, the one upon the other and upon the main or central portion of the strap, in proper position and in suitable shape for being secured together by the sewing-machine, the interior guideways of the said tubular casing, in and through which the edges of the strap move, as hereinabove explained, causing them to keep their relative positions and to more evenly fold or lap over each other than they otherwise would if the interior of the guide-casing was not provided with them.

In lieu of forming the guide in two parts or sections, as described, it may be made in one continuous piece, or it may be made in several parts or sections, it being only necessary that the guideway for the strap should gradually contract or taper from the end at which the strap enters the same to that at which it issues or is delivered to the sewing-machine,

and that suitable ways or guides be provided guide its edges will be lapped or folded over for the edges of the strap, substantially as described.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent A guide made of a conical or tapering shape from end to end, and provided with suitable ways or guides for the edges of the strap or material passing through it, so that when the strap issues from the smaller end of the said each other, either more or less, substantially as herein described, and for the purpose J. T. OAPEWELL.

Witnesses:

WM. F. MONAMARA, ALBERT W. BROWN. 

